


You stunted fool

by NCSP



Series: Something to tell you [7]
Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, The Avengers - Ambiguous Fandom
Genre: Caring Loki, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Mpreg, Not Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Compliant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-17
Updated: 2018-07-17
Packaged: 2019-06-12 03:47:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,079
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15331041
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NCSP/pseuds/NCSP
Summary: Tony's ideas aren't always the best. Luckily, Loki is there to remind him





	You stunted fool

Loki turned toward the glass walls that allowed the view on the whole skyline of Manhattan and finally found out what was going on. There was smoke rising in spirals from the streets, the traffic had been stopped and the cars were scattered everywhere, randomly abandoned by their owners the moment they had received the order to evacuate the streets, and there were people running everywhere; he saw a green, massive shape crushing two cars out of the corner of his eye.

A couple of buildings had already collapsed.

Oh.

“What’s going on?” He glanced toward Pepper, hoping she hadn’t received Jarvis’s same instructions. He could’ve extorted her the information he wanted, but he liked her, so he would’ve gladly avoided that.

“A terroristic attack,” she said promptly, “At least a hundred men, maybe more. The number is still uncertain. They are well organised, decided to hit ten different points in the city so it would’ve been more difficult to stop them, our forces are scattered. We have no idea how they put their hands on helicopters too. It’s even worse than 9/11…” her voice trailed off, and even though Loki had no idea what she was talking about he understood that it was bad.

“Where’s Tony?”

To be honest, he didn’t give a damn about who those people were and what they were doing, what their strategy was, all he wanted to know was what that reckless fool was doing. 

Because of course he was out there trying to prevent more damage, probably causing some to himself.

Stupid human.

“He’s trying to take down a squad by himself. I tried to tell him to wait for reinforcements, but he won’t listen. I hoped you could do something to convince him.”

If Pepper, the voice of reason, couldn’t move him Loki doubted he would’ve managed to do better, but he would’ve certainly tried.

“Put me in contact with him.”

“Jarvis,” the woman called.

“Yes, Miss Potts?”

“Open the link with Tony’s HUD.”

The AI didn’t even waste time answering her, an hologram simply popped up in front of them showing Tony’s face inside the helmet. Apparently Jarvis was worried too, he simply could’d go against his creator’s orders, but the moment he found a loophole he exploited it.

“Hey, what’s going on?” Tony asked when he noticed Loki glowering at him, “I gave orders…”

“For Jarvis to keep me out of this,” Loki hissed.

Pepper wouldn’t have liked to be in Tony’s shoes when he got home, “I asked Jarvis to make this call.”

“Pepper?”

“Since you don’t listen to me maybe you’ll listen to him,” was the angry answer he received.  
“She told me you’re not waiting for backup. Have you gone mad?”

“I don’t need backup, I can take these bastards down by myself. If you let me focus,” he added, because honestly even he couldn’t face a bunch of terrorist and that pissed off pair.  
“This is madness. Search for cover and wait for someone to come and help you.”

“Cap and Clint are on their way, they’ll be there in a few minutes.”

They heard the noise of something, probably a brick wall crushing.

“What was that?”

“I’m inside the building.”

“Get out,” Loki ordered, “Get the fuck out of that place, Stark.”

Oh, things would’ve been really bad for him when he got home.

“Tony, get out!” Pepper yelled at him, as Jarvis provided them with the live footage from the cameras of the suit. The building was large, yes, so Tony could actually fly in there, but there were too many hidden corners, and he was outnumbered.

“Stark, I swear I’ll…” the ending part of his threat was swallowed by the sound of an explosion, “Tony!”

There was a long moment of silence.

“I’m fine, just a scratch,” he was panting a little when he answered.

The west wall of the building had collapsed, there were debris everywhere and dust and ashes clouded the view, but at least now Tony had a sure way out.

“Get out of there, Tony!”

“Get out, now!”

“Uh-oh.”

Oh Norns, Loki didn’t like the sound of it.

“On the left, four men approaching,” Pepper informed him.

“Thanks, I noticed,” Tony scoffed.

“Then go away!” Loki exclaimed.

“That could be a problem. I’m kind of stuck…”

The four men had become eight, and they all had guns blazing at Tony, and a couple of them were also holding something that horribly resembled a grenade.

“What do you mean with stuck?”

“My arm. It’s trapped under the wall that has just collapsed. And the only gauntlet working is that one, shit,” he cursed when he tried to shot the nearing terrorists, “Where did you say Cap and Clint are?” He asked trying to wiggle away from the debris that were trapping him.

“A few minutes,” Pepper’s voice had become increasingly worried as the terrorists approached; one of them had a camera in his hand, and they all knew what that meant. They didn’t plan on taking hostages, but showing the world how they had managed to kill Iron Man; that would’ve been astonishing propaganda for them. One of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, put down for the honour of their cause, and if they had managed to murder him, what could have stopped them?

“Two more coming,” she informed him, her voice dying in her throat; Tony had been through worse, that was true, but he hadn’t either been trapped and without the use of his suit or the target of an execution meant to be shown worldwide. Kidnapping yes, that was something Tony could handle and escape, but that… that was meant to be a downright execution, there was no way he would’ve managed to talk himself out of that.

She turned toward Loki since she hadn’t heard a word coming from him for way too long, but when her eyes landed on the spot where the god had been up to a few moments ago no one was there.

Loki had simply vanished.

She returned to the screens then, questioning whether it was a good idea or not to tell Tony, but the thought was swept off by the bright lights he saw in the holograms, then the connection was cut off.

She stared silently at the screens, her mouth slightly open in horror.

“You pathetic excuse for a husband!” Loki’s yell came from her right, and she turned to see him facing Tony, a hand still on his arm, just in front of the windows. Inside.

“Hey, there’s no need,” he removed the helmet with his left hand, but it didn’t prove a good idea because the moment his face was free from the metal Loki slapped him.

“Ouch!”

“How dare you say you have years ahead of you and then do something so stupid as going in a solo mission against men with bombs?”

“It wasn’t a solo mission, Capsicle an Hawk were on their way,” this time he managed to dodge Loki’s hand, “Can you stop that?”

“Can you stop being a reckless idiot?”

“Weren’t you supposed to not use your magic?”

“Don’t try to change the subject, that’s not about me!”

“How on earth are you two here?” Pepper interrupted them, staring at them with wide eyes.

“I went to retrieve this moron.”

Loki’s turning around allowed Tony to take a step back and have at least a chance of not getting hit some more.

“I see that, but how?”

“I teleported there and went back.”

“And took down at least half of those bastards. That wasn’t necessary and since you shouldn’t be using your magic in the first place you could have avoided that.”

“No one threatens what’s mine,” the god growled, his eyes hard.

Tony was forced to shut up at that.

“What happened to your arm?” Pepper inquired noticing his limb hanging from his shoulder in a very unnatural way.

“It may be broken.” Tony would’ve avoided explaining that as Loki was still in the nearby, but he would’ve noticed sooner or later anyhow.

“You stunted fool,” this time Loki’s voice came out a little less aggressive and a lot more concerned; he gently took the injured arm in his hands, “The weight of the part of wall that was trapping you may have pushed some piece inside.”

“The suit is designed not to do that.”

“Yet look at this part,” he pointed at a spot on the articulation of the elbow, “Maybe it’s just dented, but I wouldn’t risk removing it too quickly.”

Tony could agree on that; he was sure of his project, but it required no effort at all to be a little cautious.

“Is the mechanism still working?” Pepper dared to approach them now that Loki had calmed down a little.

“I don’t think so, I’ll have to remove it manually.”

“And I’ll call Dr. Luwell, so he can see how much damage you’ve done to yourself.”

“Tell him to come quickly so I can go help the others.”

“Has your last scrap of brain slid out of your cranium?” Loki tightened the grip on his arm making him wince.

“We aren’t done with those terrorists.”

“But you are,” Pepper joined in with her disapproval.

“Your arm is broken, your suit isn’t working and you almost died, for Norns’ sake. You will not set foot out of here.”

“You can’t tell me what to do.”

“I can since you don’t seem to tell a good plan from a suicidal mission!”

“Stark!” Rogers voice came from the speakers and Loki was forced to shut up, “Are you alright?”

“Safe and sound, Capsicle.”

“How did you manage to get out? You seemed quite trapped.”

“God’s work. An old fashioned miracle just the way you like it.”

Loki rolled his eyes.

“Okay, fine, don’t tell me.”

“Where are you now? In five minutes I can join you. Hey!” He exclaimed when a glass landed on his left shoulder and exploded in a myriad of shards.

Loki may have not been able to voice his protests, but he could always find a way to be heard nonetheless.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” he glanced pointedly at Loki, “Jarvis is making a mess with my suit. So, where do you need me? Stop that!” Another glass hit him square in the chest and was shattered by the impact with his suit.

“There’s no need for your help, though. You’ve done enough. The army is disposing of the last terrorists, we can all go home. I just wanted to know if you needed an extra hand.”

“Everything’s fine, thanks.”

Rogers closed the call after a few recommendations regarding Fury and the SHIELD, and Loki was free to speak again.

“Join them in a few minutes?” He yelled.

“Why were you throwing glasses at me?”

“Because I could’t tell you how stupid you were being!”

“Maybe hitting you with tableware wasn’t the most polite way to do it, but Loki’s right, Tony. You can’t chase terrorists when half of your suit isn’t even working,” Pepper tried to act as the peacemaker because honestly, she could see the point of both of them; they were both being childish and stubborn, but since the more harmless one – even she couldn’t believe she was thinking that – was Loki since he only wanted for Tony to stay out of trouble, she had to side with him.

“I’m not really that banged up.”

“You will the moment I get my hands on you if you even only hint at going out again today.”

Tony tried to retort, but a sudden light-headedness forced him to lean against the window. In the blink of an eye Loki was by his side, a hand steading him and the other one wrapping the same cheek he had just slapped a few moments before.

“Now let me help you,” he said in a soft voice, leading his human still in armour to the sofa and crouching next to him when they reached it, “Point me where the opening mechanism is so I can get you out of this trap.”

“You see where the red paint ends? Just an inch above that. Hey, not like that,” he protested when a green glow enveloped Loki’s fingers and the god was forced to squint in concentration, “You know you shouldn’t.”

“First of all we free your arm.”

“That’s not the main issue and you know it.”

“At the moment it is.”

“No, not even at the moment.”

“It is to me,” he stated locking his eyes with Tony’s, and the genius could only kiss his forehead in response, “Here, you should be able to pull it off now.”

Tony tried with his left arm – for how much he could move with Loki tucked under it – to grip his right gauntlet, but luckily he was interrupted by the elevator doors opening.

When Luwell, the man who had fixed many of Tony’s messes through the years, came in, Loki didn’t even make the smallest attempt at moving away or hiding somewhere.

That was when Pepper realised that. Was Loki having mood swings? He had gone from raging monster to cuddly kitten in half a second, there was no other possible explanation to that. 

Beside having had a concussion a few weeks ago when Tony had told her the jolly news, but she had kind of lost all hope for that eventuality to prove true.

She was happy Tony had finally found someone he loved just as she had, but this was too much for anyone.

And yet in the light of her new discovery Loki’s attitude made much more sense. Threatening Tony to gut him if he didn’t listen to him? Yes, that was definitely Loki. Throwing glasses at him? No, that was probably a mood swing added to a really stressful situation.

“Mr. Stark,” the doctor greeted him, not even blinking. It wasn’t the strangest situation he had seen the billionaire into.

“Dr. Luwell, hi. I think I may have a little problem.”

“Is the fact you’re not moving your right arm a sign of that?”

“Indeed. The suit is already open at the shoulder, I only need some help to get out of it.”

The doctor nodded and with expert hands he removed the piece of armour with ease, not even causing too much discomfort to his patient.

“It’s definitely broken, there’s no doubt. Without your suit, Mr. Stark, you would’ve probably lost your arm. Severed with a neat cut. Probably bled to death.”

What Tony hadn’t considered was how straightforward his doctor was, and now he could only tighten his grip on Loki.

“But I had it on, that’s the important part. What can you do to mend me?”

“We could go for a rigid bandage, but I think a cast is better in tour case. More difficult to damage,” he hinted at his patient’s recklessness without having to mention the fact that had he opted for a rigid bandage Tony would’ve got rid of it no sooner had his arm itched, “You should come with me to the hospital to get it done.”

“That’s out of question. The streets are a mess, you’re here only because you were already inside the Tower. We should have all the necessary here, right Jarvis?”

“Yes, sir. There are three emergencies kit on this floor, two upstairs, and five in your lab.”  
Loki quirked an eyebrow at him.

“I’m not known for my self-preservation instincts. At least I’m prepared.”

Loki just shook his head, leaning against his uninjured shoulder.

On of Tony’s bots fetched the necessary for the doctor, but he couldn’t start working yet.

“You should remove the rest of the suit before I go on.”

Jarvis started working on it, and when the metal was gone Loki ripped the undershirt open with a single finger, leaving Tony’s chest exposed. His chest and a big ugly bruise on its right part.

“That’s nothing,” Tony tried to reassure him at the same time his doctor said, “I should take a look at that too.”

“It’s just a bruise.”

“Or maybe you have a broken rib, we can’t know for sure unless you let me check. I’d need some space, though,” he gestured at Loki who was still clinging to Tony as he never wanted to let him go.

“Right. Listen, Bambi, can you just sit a little less closely?”

Loki raised a pair of sad green eyes on him and tightened his grip on Tony’s arm.

“You should move away only for a moment or two.”

This time Loki nodded and didn’t simply shift a little to the left, he got up and went to sit at the kitchen counter on his usual stool; Tony would’ve asked him what was wrong, but Luwell started manoeuvring his arm and all his attention focused on not screaming.

It was Pepper who followed him with her eyes; there was something strange with Loki, he was staring at the surface of the kitchen island, his eyes trained on the marble surface.

There was a strange tension in his shoulders that prompted her to get closer and to sit by his side.

“What’s wrong?”

The god was a little startled by her proximity, but he didn’t let it show too much, “Nothing.”

“Doesn’t seem like it.”

Loki remained silent, his eyes still not raising from the spot he was fixing on.

“Loki?”

He finally averted his eyes from the point he was staring at and looked at Tony, but when he noticed the human wasn’t even looking in his direction he got up and headed for the corridor without a single word.

Okay, there was definitely something strange going on.

Pepper followed him and found him in the unused dining room staring out of the window.

“Loki, what are you doing?”

“I… nothing,” he turned back around toward the window.

“Listen, I know we don’t know each other well, but even I can notice there’s something wrong.”

Loki bit his bottom lip, as if trying to stop the words that wanted to spill from his mouth, but in the end he gave in, “I shouldn’t have thrown those glasses.”

“Excuse me?”

“Now he’s mad at me, I shouldn’t have,” his eyes weren’t meeting Pepper’s, as if he was ashamed of his confession.

“Mad at you?”

“He sent me away,” this time he turned his back at her.

“What? No, Loki, listen. I know Tony, he’s not mad at you, not at all. I’ve known Tony for many years now, and I can tell you it takes much more to really piss him off. Simply throwing his stuff isn’t enough.”

“But he told me to go away…”

“No, he told you not to basically sit in his lap so his doctor could mend his arm, it was you who decided to interpret it like this,” she gestured at the room.

Loki shook his head, not at all convinced.

Pepper would’ve liked to say she had already been in stranger situations, but convincing a Norse pregnant God that no, her ex boyfriend wasn’t mad at him but that his assumption was probably only due to a mood swing induced by their child definitely was something she would’ve never have been able to foreshadow. Or to prepare to.

“Loki, listen to me. Don’t take this the wrong way, but there’s a high chance you’re seeing things worse than they really are because of the child,” she discretely took a step back, no quite sure of Loki’s possible reaction.

“The child?”

“It’s possible it’s making you feel things a little altered.”

Loki remained silent, his eyes still fixed on the smouldering landscape in front of him.

Pepper sighed; she had had to do something really bad in her previous life to deserve this. She headed back for the living room, resorting to the only thing that would’ve convinced Loki.

“Dr. Luwell, may I ask you if you’re almost done?”

“Just a few moments, Miss Potts,” he doctor answered not looking up from the bandage on Stark’s chest.

“Is something wrong? Where’s-“ he stopped before saying Loki’s name; his doctor wasn’t stupid, but why taking the risk when he might have not had a good look at Loki’s face, thus not recognising him?

“Dining room. You should come when you have a minute.”

Tony almost got up, a worried expression on his face, but Luwell pushed him back.

“Nothing pressing, someone’s just throwing a tantrum.”

Tony frowned a little at that definition, but he settled for allowing the doctor to finish wrapping up his chest; probably his entire attention would’ve been required and he couldn’t focus on Loki with bandages making him stumble.

“Okay, Mr. Stark, I’m done here. I’ll leave Miss Potts the prescription for painkillers.”

Tony almost rolled his eyes. He was done with pills and he drank moderately now, but his doctor still didn’t trust him.

“May I leave now?”

“Yes, I’ll tell Miss Potts the details. Ring me if you need me, don’t hesitate.”

Tony got up immediately since Pepper was already gesturing with her chin to the corridor. Apparently it wasn’t just a tantrum.

When he got to the dining room Loki was still staring out of the window.

“Lokes?”

The god turned around with an almost surprised expression on his gracious face, “What are you doing here?”

“Pepper told me something was wrong. Why are you here?” He reached him and put his left hand on his arm; he would’ve hugged him, seeing the look on his face, but his right arm was quite hindered at the moment.

“No, why are you here?”

“Listen, we can go on like this for hours. I’ve told you what I’m doing here, now you tell me what’s wrong.”

Loki dithered for a few moments more, then he seemed to decide that contradicting Tony now wasn’t a good move.

“The glasses.”

“The glasses?”

“I… I’m sorry. Is shouldn’t have thrown them at you, I really shouldn’t have, and now you’re mad at me and I knew I would’ve ruined everything eventually but didn’t really think I would have so soon and…”

“Whoa, wait,” Tony interrupted him before that madness went on any longer, “Ruin everything? What the fuck are you talking about?”

“What I did before, I… I shouldn’t have, really.”

“Okay, hitting me with tableware isn’t the best thing to do in a healthy relationship, but wait on a second,” he tightened the grip with his left hand before Loki turned around and avoided his eyes again, “I’m not angry, not with you at least. What pisses me off is that a bunch of bastards targeted my city, but you’ve nothing to do with that. You didn’t ruin anything,” he pulled Loki close and softly kissed him on the lips, a hand at the nape of his neck to make sure he didn’t move away.

Despite his comforting gesture Loki didn’t seem persuaded just yet.

“You want to know what I think?”

The god nodded.

“We call them ‘mood swings’ here.”

That was what Pepper probably meant with ‘tantrum’; it was the most neutral term she could come up with in front of a stranger and still have him kind of understand what was going on.

“What?”

“It’s the baby, making your mood change abruptly, especially when you’re stressed. And I guess I’ve stressed you more than it’d be advisable. When Bruce’ll wake up he’ll probably turn back into the Hulk and kick me around.”

“So you’re saying it’s just me?”

“Not exactly you, the baby. It’s not like you can control it,” he kissed him again, a little more deeply now, “Do you believe now that I’m not mad at you?”

Loki frowned a little, but rested his head on Tony’s shoulder.

“Now come with me. I’m not saying I don’t feel good but I’d rather sit down for a moment.”

At that Loki almost dragged him to the couch from which he had just got up. It took him about half a second to be curled up against the human’s side.

“Tomorrow I can do something for your arm, now I’m too tired,” he said with a yawn, his fingers gently sliding on the cast, his previous turmoil foregone.

“You mean magic?”

“A little healing spell.”

“Then no.”

Loki quirked an eyebrow at him. Tony had never had something against his magic, he had rather always been fascinated by it, so why this sudden change of heart?

“You yourself told me you shouldn’t be practising magic right now, and you’ve already broken that rule today.”

“If I hadn’t you would be dead right now.”

“I disagree. Anyway, my point is still valid.”

“It’s not like I can’t do any magic right now,” Loki sighed; it had always been tiresome and annoying to discuss his magic with anyone, since everybody simply shrugged off his abilities as if they were nothing noteworthy, but he now realised it was just a knee-jerk reaction. Tony simply didn’t know what he was talking about, so he had to explain without letting his past poison his words, “I’m a mage, without that power I’d be too defenceless, so I’m allowed to use magic even in this state. The only thing I must remember is that I can’t dispose fully of it.”

“In a language I can understand?”

“It’s like… fighting with an arm tied behind your back. You can still do it, but it’s more difficult. You can even resort to that impaired arm, but using it is a little like twisting it, straining it. You need a little time to recover after that, but it’s nothing serious,” he yawned again, his head resting in the crook of Tony’s shoulder.

“You definitely look tired.”

“That’s a side effect.”

“Lie down for a while, then.”

“There’s no need.”

“Oh well, Bambi, I will,” he understood what was going on in Loki’s mind; he was trying to show him how much he cared about him, and he was obviously doing it at his terms, yelling and insulting first, and after that trying to mend the mess he thought he had created. Now Loki was putting into action the second part of his usual plan by not leaving him alone even for a second, not even sleeping when he truly needed to, so it was up to him to make sure Loki rested a bit.

It was a little difficult to find a comfortable position with Tony’s broken arm and bruised chest being the part where Loki usually curled up against, but with a little manoeuvring they found their cosy usual position.

“Thank you,” Tony murmured after a while in Loki’s ear, already knowing he wasn’t waking him up; he had been sleeping with Loki in his arms long enough to tell from his breathing whether he was sleeping or not, “I haven’t told you yet, but thank you. I wasn’t in a really nice situation before your arrival.”

“I know.”

“You should learn how to accept gratitude,” he nibbled at Loki’s earlobe.

“You should learn not to make dumb moves that could get you killed.”

“Touché,” his lips moved to Loki’s jaw, “You still know you can’t tell me what to do.”

“That’s what you think.”

Tony snorted and tried to place his arm at a better angle on Loki’s side, and when Loki shifted a little to allow him to be more comfortable the genius’ hand landed on his belly, “No more dumb moves, mmh?”

 

~

 

“Tony, are you-“

“Ssh,” Tony silenced her from the couch, “I’ve just put my governess to sleep, don’t ruin my work.”

Pepper turned around in the direction of the sofa, and there she found Tony, with Loki soundly asleep in his arms; Tony would’ve probably stood up to talk to her, but his undamaged arm was around the god and the other one was resting on his side.

“Only because some people try to keep you alive, you don’t actually have to call them your governesses.”

“It’s fitting.”

“No, you’re hell bent toward destruction and some people would prefer to avoid attending your funeral. So, getting to the point of my visit: I have your painkillers here, one every eight hours if the arm hurts badly, but nothing more,” she underlined, and Tony rolled his eyes.  
“You know I don’t like that stuff anymore, only on medical prescription for me now.”

Pepper hummed her answer, not going out on a limb, “Anyway, how are you? Do you need me to do something? Stay here?”

“There’s no need, but thank you. Jarvis’s constantly checking on my vitals and Loki’ll kill me if I even only hint at getting worse, so I should be fine.”

This time Pepper nodded, agreeing with him that her presence was redundant; Tony wasn’t alone anymore, he had someone who cared about him beside her and he would’ve been fine. She had seen him in worst conditions after all, the issue with that day had been the situation Tony had put himself into, not the actual severeness of his injuries; and the worst part had been being able to watch the scene, completely powerless, while one of the most important persons in her life risked to be executed for terrorists’ propaganda. 

“I’ll go attend a couple of your meetings then. I guess it’d be better if I’d simply cancel those scheduled for the next…” she assessed his condition looking at him from head to toe, even though Loki was in the way, “… seven to ten days.”

“You’re an angel, Pep,” he smiled, “Who knew a possible catastrophe could have such a bright side.”

Pepper snorted while already heading for the elevator, “If it weren’t for your lover over there, you’d be dead right now.”

“Not my lover,” Tony said when the doors were starting to close, “Husband.”

Last thing he saw was Pepper’s shocked expression.

“You told her,” Loki’s voice came out even, not like he had just woken up.

“I may have accidentally killed her, but yes.”

“Why?”

“She would’ve found out sooner or later,” he waved his left hand where the wedding ring flashed in front of Loki’s eyes. There was no answer coming from him though; he remained silent, not moving from the circle of Tony’s arms.

It took the genius a couple of minutes to understand what was going on.

“It isn’t just a marriage on paper to you, right?”

There wasn’t only silence from Loki’s part now, he also stiffened.

“Because to me it’s not,” Tony added, softly kissing his cheek the closest he could to his lips.  
Loki would’ve never said that first, but what Tony had just told him was true; they had rushed thing quite a lot, did them with a second motif so urgent it had allowed them not to focus on the fact of what they were actually doing or thinking at the moment, but if Tony had to be honest with himself they would’ve never went on as if nothing had happened. Things had already changed for them in a quite drastic way, but he was glad they had. 

Surprised, that was for sure, but he didn’t regret it in the slightest.

As he had already told Loki a few weeks ago he had been dwelling on the thought he would’ve liked to have a family of his own, people around him he could love unconditionally and who would’ve become the most important part of his life, but then Loki had stepped into the picture that had already started forming in his head.

At first they relationship had been constituted by casual meetings that always saw them naked in the round of minutes, so Tony had kept repeating to himself that he would’ve been able to put an end to that the moment he had found the right person, only to realise the right person was right in front of him, quickly redressing to leave. Tony had never been shy about his affections, so he had started to remove Loki’s armour piece by piece with soft words and coming up with even more pet names – that at first he had thought would’ve earned him a quick journey for the pavement too many floors below – but that had surprisingly worked.

Loki had opened up slowly, his mask cracking a little at the time, but Tony had quickly noticed how the god basked in all those attentions despite pretending to be bothered by them; he had seized that opportunity and kept on finding always new ways to keep Loki closer and to make him feel more at ease since from what little he had managed to gather of his past in those first few months of their relationship that had never been a habit for Loki. He always seemed on edge, and Tony wanted to make that disappear.

There was only one thing that had been bothering him a little, preventing him from being fully happy; that thing with Loki was meant as a fling, nothing serious, nothing that would’ve got in the way of his desire to have a family one day, but he had no intention of leaving Loki now, and he doubted he would’ve managed to bring Loki to consider something for the long term.  
Apparently he had been wrong.

Loki did, he wanted commitment, he only feared rejection.

The only reason why he had kept his feelings a secret – beside not being as loud as Tony was – was that he feared they weren’t mutual, even though his lover was so vocal about them. In Loki’s experience words meant very little, they could be crafted in the most perfect ways to compel anyone, so even though Tony had told him he loved him those could be empty word, meaning nothing.

But then there were facts, how Tony didn’t let him go, how Tony wanted him to stay, to sleep with him just for the sake of being close… Facts didn’t lie. 

And then there was his reaction at the unexpected news.

Loki would’ve never guessed Tony would’ve reacted in such a way. He expected yelling and screaming, anger for not being told that could’ve happened, and instead what he had been welcomed with had been calm and even happiness. Loki had been ready to leave to avoid hearing those words from Tony, to avoid one more rejection, instead he had been invited to move in.

He had never considered the possibility of living on Midgard, but Asgard was no home to him, and if Tony wanted him around, wanted a family with him, there was no way he could say no to that. When Tony had started talking about that wedding, then, he couldn’t simply believe what he was listening to; and yet, even though he was perfectly aware it had been staged only to keep the baby and him safe, he could’t but hope in a hidden part of himself that there was something more.

Of course Tony asking him to live together and being happy to have a child already told a lot about the man’s feelings, but he couldn’t yet be sure, he could only hope. 

“To you is not?”

“I’m quite fond of you, Bambi, in case you haven’t noticed,” with a little effort he managed to grab Loki’s hand and kiss his knuckles.

“You’re such a fool,” Loki snorted as Tony hissed, “That definitely wasn’t a good idea.”

“As I’ve said, a fool,” Loki smiled and turned slightly around to kiss him.

“And you’re lovely,” Tony huffed, trying to find the right position for his broken arm.

“Are you sure you want to stay like this? I’m certain you’d be more comfortable in a different arrangement.”

“You’re being a little too nice, I don’t like it. It’s spooky.”

“I could elbow you in that broken ribs of yours if you prefer.”

“Okay, that’s more like you.”

“I should’ve left you under those debris,” he didn’t sound really convincing since he was pressing against Tony to chase away the memories of those moments.

“You look good in black, but the grieving widow style doesn’t suit you.”

“The moment those men get identified I’ll tell them where you are and personally let them in.”

Tony chuckled against Loki’s hair, deciding he was right and that getting into a sitting position was a good idea; his ribs protested a little in the process but after that the pain stopped also in his arm. Or at least it stopped being a piercing ache preventing him from focusing on anything else.

“Jarvis.”

“Yes, sir?”

“Update my files, some information aren’t correct anymore,” he glanced at Loki, who was studying the cast and its matching companion on Tony’s chest to find a way to be close to him and not to cause him discomfort.

“Your status has been successfully updated, sir,” the AI informed him.

“Here, now it’s all settled.”

“What?”

“Jarvis has fixed my documents.”

Loki gave him an inquiring look.

“They include you now,” he explained since Loki seemed to be still missing a point.

“So now…?”

“They are my public files. Well, they include you but not your name for now.”

“What do you mean by the fact that they include me but not my name?”

Tony would’ve rolled his eyes, but in Asgard they probably didn’t have such things as ID cards, “Now there’s written on my files I’m married, but not to whom. They’ll get leaked to the press, I’m sure of that, so it’s better if we wait to write your name on them. I’m not saying we won’t, we just have to handle your return to Earth in the best way not have an angry mob at the front door.”

“You’ll eventually tell everyone on Midgard you’re married to me?” He inquired, his voice blatantly showing how astonished he was.

“Yes, the moment we manage to clear your image-“ he was stopped in the mid of the sentence by Loki’s lips closing his mouth; in a moment he was in his lap, straddling him and pushing him against the backrest.

“I love how you show happiness, Lokes, but after yesterday and with the painkillers in circle I really don’t think I can do much.”

“It doesn’t matter,” he kept on kissing him with ardour, his hands framing Tony’s face.

“It matters to me,” he grumbled, his left arm circling Loki’s waist.

Loki chuckled softly, returning to Tony’s side noticing that that position wasn’t really comfortable for his bruised human, “You’re a pervert.”

“Who was on top of me up to ten seconds ago?”

“I was just kissing you, it was you who came up with strange ideas.”

“Okay, look at my neck then. These,” he pointed at two dark and very noticeable hickeys, “Were left by you.”

“You didn’t seem to mind.”

Tony shook his head; he wouldn’t have won that argument with Loki about who liked the other more in bed. It was just a lost cause.

“Shouldn’t you be resting?” He asked instead.

“I was rather distracted when you decided to include me into a statement to the world.”  
“It doesn’t change the fact that you should be sleeping right now, not jumping me.”

“By the Norns, you’re insufferable.”

“You love me all the same.”

Loki rolled his eyes but decided to settle against the pillows of the couch.

“You could consider going to the bedroom.”

“I’d rather be here to prevent you from doing anything more stupid today.”

“You’ll never let me get away with this, won’t you?”

“It’s happened a few hours ago, you damned fool, how can you expect me to ignore it?”

“You worry too much,” he laughed a little breathlessly when Loki kicked him in the legs.

“I truly hate you.”

Tony slid on the other side of the couch, being careful not to hurt his arm more, but finding a comfortable position wasn’t easy, “Happy now?”

“Let’s say I won’t murder you in your sleep.”

Tony nudged him with his knee, but when Loki stretched his legs he realised he had made a mistake, “Why are your feet on my shoulder?”

“Because in case you hadn’t noticed, I have long legs.”

“What are you implying?”

“Implying nothing, just stating.”

Tony tried to swat his legs away, but as he did so he winced in pain.

“Oh, your ribs are still broken,” the god sat up and put a hand on his tight.

“Of course they are, genius, that wall fell on me a few hours ago.”

Loki must have forgotten for a moment that mortals healed in a different way from what he was used to, so now his concern was showing as if something was terribly wrong; Tony was perfectly fine for someone with an arm and a couple of broken ribs, but that seemed to be escaping Loki’s notice.

“You are the one who should be in bed. Come on,” he offered him a hand to get up.

“I’m fine, there’s no need to fuss over me.”

“Come to bed,” he ordered.

“Oh well, if you ask like this…” Tony grinned and Loki almost decided to twist his right arm behind his back.

“Tony, be serious for just a moment. You almost died today and now you need to recover. You’re a human, and humans are terribly delicate and with too many bad ideas for your survival. So now come to bed, resting in the wrong position could cause your ribs to end up puncturing your lungs.”

Tony made a mental note of how stress didn’t work well with Loki right now; he was obviously being overdramatic, his chest was bandaged in the right way and he would’ve been fine if he was a little careful, but right now Loki couldn’t see that. 

“Fine,” he smiled at the worried god and accepted his help to get up, “But you rest too.”

“You really thought I’d have not been there with you?” He asked as he gestured Tony toward the bedroom.

“What I mean is that you have to stop checking my every breath and rest, Snowflake,” he grunted as he lied down on the comfortable mattress, and completely ignoring what he had just said Loki swiftly positioned some pillows behind his back.

“Lokes…”

“Yes, I’ve heard you, just a moment,” he finished rearranging the pillows and when he was satisfied with the way Tony’s back sank in the cushions he curled up by his side.

“I’m not dying, Lokes.”

“I know, it’s just…” he didn’t look up at him, neither he managed to finish the sentence.

“We should’ve a ceremony.”

“Excuse me?”

“A ceremony. When we manage to clear you image and tell people you’re here,” he carded his fingers through Loki’s inky hair; he knew he only way to shake the scared god off of his morbid thoughts was to change completely the subject. He would’ve never managed to convince him by explaining to him how things were, not now at least, so distracting him was the only solution he was left with.

“What are you talking about?”

“It’s not like I can get married without a little fanfare. Of course not now, it’d be madness.  
And I’d look terrible in the pictures with this,” he gestured with his chin to his right arm.

Loki chuckled lightly, “You’re ridiculous.”

“C’mon, you’d like it.”

“I’m not saying I wouldn’t,” he brushed his cheek against Tony’s shoulder so to look him in the eyes.

“It’s settled then,” he grinned.

“It’d make it very real, though.”

“For fuck’s sake, I’ve already told you it’s real to me, and I know it is to you too, so stop with this. I love you, I agree with you that our getting married yesterday wasn’t really that talked through in the matter of the traditional reasons people have to get married, and that we haven’t really discussed our plans for the future, but since you completely shut down at the mere mention of the fact that in a half a century I could be dead, and that I know for sure I want you around as long as you want me, I think we can consider all of this real enough.”

Loki grasped at his last straw of mistrust, “We did it for he baby.”

“Did you hear me mention the baby even once? No. And it’s not like I’m not happy of its presence – I know you’re thinking that so I feel like I have to repeat myself for the thousandth time – but I didn’t because the world is full of divorced people who have a child together, so as you see the baby isn’t a requirement for us to be happy together.”

Loki didn’t know how to retort anymore. The only thing left was that Tony was telling the truth, but he simply wasn’t that lucky, never had.

“So now accept the fact that I love you and stop being so sure you’ll end up alone.”

To that, Loki couldn’t protest anymore. He simply cuddled against Tony, being careful not to touch any delicate place, letting his human do as he more pleased.

Tony was rather satisfied of the result of his little tirade. He had always known the god was hard to convince in the matter of trust, but he was also aware of the fact that the only thing he needed to gain said trust was time, and now he had it.

It wasn’t long before the painkillers kicked in and Tony fell asleep with his good arm around Loki. He had tried to remain awake for as long as he could to make sure the stubborn deity stopped standing guard at his side, but his body had failed him before he had been able to see Loki drifting off to sleep.

Loki had decidedly played his part in that. He wanted to be sure his beloved human was comfortable and that nothing bad was to happen to him; he was now realising though that the drug induced sleep would’ve lasted way less than what he needed to regain his strengths after his overuse of his magic, but he couldn’t have Tony strolling around the house without his surveillance.

With an effort he didn’t think was needed for such a simple act he disentangled from Tony’s embrace and headed for the kitchen.

“Jarvis, a tray.”

“Third drawer on the left, sir.”

“When you inventor wakes up an gets the insane idea of leaving the bedroom because he’s bored or doesn’t want to wake me up, tell him he has everything he needs on the bed.”

“You included, sir?”

Loki rolled his eyes. There was no doubt on who had written the codes of the AI.

“On this note, tell him also that if he even also hints at getting up when all he should do is resting, he may consider to stay up for the next month since there will be nothing for him to do in bed.”

“You make very cruel threats, sir.’

Loki snorted his amusement for the AI’s answer, then he pulled out the platter and started stacking food on top of it; just fruit, crackers, cheese, anything that could be served cold filled the space on the tray that he brought back to the bedroom. For a moment he caught himself thinking that such a task was beneath him, that bringing food to a sick person was fit for a servant, not a prince, but the thought abandoned him in the blink of an eye. Prince or not that wasn’t the point now: he was taking care of the person he loved, period. 

He left the food at the feet of the huge bad, so he was sure of not kicking it and that Tony would’ve surely found it, and after a few careful movements he fell asleep in his husband’s arms.

 

~

 

When he came back to consciousness his head was still dull with sleep and tiredness, and that was what brought Loki to question why he was awake when his body clearly needed much more sleep to get back at his best.

It took him a couple of seconds to understand that what had woken him up was the heavy breathing coming from the right side of the bed, usually his side but that had now been leant to Tony so that they could still be close without the rigid bandages with their broken bones in the way.

“Tony?” He called, having no clue of what was going on.

A small whimper escaped the man’s lips, and Loki was awake in an instant.


End file.
